Help Selling Books During the Holidays

It’s a pleasure to welcome author Penny Sansevieri to Thoughts in Progress today to talk about her recently published eBook that focuses on helping authors sell more books during the holidays.

The eBook - 50 Ways to Sell a Sleigh-Load of Books - also explores lots of principles that can apply to anyone looking into the holiday market! Here’s a brief synopsis of the book.

Retail sales reached nearly $700 billion dollars last year during the holidays. The outlook for this year is equally as sparkling. People are ready to shop and buy.

Are you all set to get your piece of the holiday pie?

If your heart tells you your answer is no, and you could use some help…then reading 50 Ways to Sell a Sleigh-Load of Books is a must! Marketing your book during the holidays isn’t complicated. But it does require sound planning and savvy execution. Bottom line, marketing strategies to sell more books during the holidays are not something you can put off until the last minute and then pull out of…Santa’s bag.

To be a holiday hit, you have to start now. 50 Ways to Sell a Sleigh-Load of Books will help you make it happen.

Now join me in giving a warm welcome to Penny as she explains further. Welcome, Penny.

Every November, without fail, I get a flood of authors who want to take advantage of the huge holiday sales market. I’d love to help each and every one of them. And while some can still get their book promotions on a good uptick, for most authors, November is just too late.

And ultimately, that’s why I wrote How to Revise and Re-Release Your Book (insert link). I don’t want authors to wait until November, because candidly, July or August, and even September is when you need to be starting your holiday sales promotions. I want to help you get there.

This is for a number of reasons.

First, you’ve heard of Christmas in July, right? Well, it’s more than just a kitschy furniture sales tactic. It actually works, and Amazon has jumped on this with Prime Day. Now, of course, those mid-year sales pushes have passed, but retailers haven’t slowed their own push to capture sales and neither should authors.

No one in business should say, “Well, now that July sales are over, I can cool my heels until Black Friday; no need to make money or pay bills until then.”

When you think of it like that, it sounds ridiculous, right?

That leads me to the next point. Just because you’re waiting, not everyone else is.

Media and bloggers don’t put something online right now just because you are ready. They need a longer lead in. For national media, this is something like 3 months, and regional media, this is going to be much shorter. Bloggers, you never know. They could be scheduled out a month in advance, or they may be flying more by the seat of their pants. But you never know, and you should assume they’d like to plan with you. So start pitching them now.

Before launching headlong into your marketing, I recommend first making sure that your book is ready – from what you’ve written to the cover, and your book blurbs and your book description. You should also ensure that there’s a holiday market for your book, because not every book is a great fit for the holidays.

The holiday sales market isn’t a typical sales funnel. You need to present your book as a gift or novelty, and you need to create a connection between your book and the holiday. For example, you might update your Amazon book page to say something like, “A Perfect Gift for Mom this Holiday Season!” or, “A Perfect Gift for a Young Reader!”

It really boils down to creativity.

Creative ideas are rewarded because they make you—and your target stand out among the crowd. Take the time now to brainstorm ideas, and then plan how—and when—you’re going to implement them. Then get to work. Start planning, pitching, and scheduling everything from your own content to your eBook promotions. Remember that everything should work together as a cohesive effort towards a common goal.

But it definitely takes work. Success isn’t built on hopes and dreams. You can’t put your book out there on Amazon and hope it sells during the rest of the year. And this is even more true during the holiday sales push. Think about using custom imagery in your seasonal marketing.

I’m excited to hear how my strategies help you move the needle. You definitely don’t need to put all 50 ways into practice. I understand that your time is limited, but each of them is a solid opportunity for you to grow your exposure, and after all, exposure is what drives the ultimate holy grail—book sales!

Not only do I have 50 Ways to Sell a Sleigh-Load of Books: Proven Marketing Strategies to Sell More Books for the Holidays available as an eBook-exclusive HERE, but I’ve also just published a free preview that you can download HERE!

50 Ways to Sell a Sleigh-Load of Books is available on Amazon HERE.

Penny, thanks for sharing this helpful information with us. The holidays are upon us.

For those who aren’t familiar with Penny, here’s a bit of background on her.

Author Penny Sansevieri

Penny Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. (AME) and Adjunct Professor at NYU, is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert.

Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has devAuthor eloped some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. To learn more about her company and services, visit www.AMarketingExpert.com.

Thanks for stopping by today. Do you find the holidays a good time to sell your books (or buy books) or is it too stressful for you to even try?